


The Illyrian and the Princess

by shieraseastar03



Category: A Court of Thorns and Roses Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Adoption, Angst, F/M, Family Feels, Fluff and Angst, Hope, Hurt/Comfort, Love Confessions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-10
Updated: 2019-06-10
Packaged: 2020-04-24 05:56:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19167175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shieraseastar03/pseuds/shieraseastar03
Summary: Cassian, General Commander of the Night Court Armies fells in love with the most unexpected female of all, Rhys' daughter.





	1. Abandoned Illyrian

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Love and Comfort](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/489460) by peachtree3. 



> Most characters belong to SJM but I created some more: Shiera (Rhys' mate, who was married to Tarquin), Alec (Rhys' son, whose mother was Rhysand's deceased wife), Magnus (Alec's husband), Killian (Alec & Magnus adopted son), Thalia and Aelin (Shiera and Rhys' twins).

They found a baby in the woods wrapped in a thin gray blanket barely big enough to cover his small feet. Fury swept through Cassian at the memory of every abandoned illyrian he had seen. But this one… He was so tiny... far smaller than any child bone of them had seen thus far. His face was so pale they could have sworn the baby wasn't breathing. They heart clenched, still feeling the terror twist in their gut.

 

Thalia passed her finger over the baby’s cheek, her healing power entering in the baby’s body. “Is he… Is he…” Cassian began but was unable to finish it. However, Thalia understood and nodded. “Yes” she breathed, “Yes, he is alive. But barely. He is freezing… He needs to heal but I can’t do it properly”. “Usually, the abandoned illyrians are carried to a healer of the camps but I think it would be better if your mother heals him”. Thalia nodded and winnowed them all to her parents’ room.

 

“Cass!” Shiera let out, surprised, “Thalia! What are you doing here? Wait… that’s a baby? Another illyrian?”. Her heart broke. How could parents keep abandoning their children just for being bastards?

 

“He needs help” Cassian began and Thalia added, “I tried to heal him but it was not enough”.

 

Shiera nodded in understanding and opened her arms, ready to hold and heal the baby. Cassian and Thalia hesitated. A tug in their hearts said that the baby would be taken care of and to let Shiera do her job, but they were reluctant to let go. This baby had already seen too much neglect and they weren’t about to let it happen again. Shiera noticed their worries, it was the same feeling that every parent had when someone took their baby.

 

Shiera gave them a sweet smile and examined the little male with the utmost care, healing power shining in her palms and slowly entering in the baby’s body.

 

"Well, looks like he will be okay. He is small that's for certain, but he'll live”. Relief washed over the couple and before they could express how grateful they were, Shiera spoke again. “If you plan on keeping him, he's going to need a lot of attention. He needs to be fed at least four times a day, though I'd recommend a little more till his weight is up” she said while playing with the baby’s right foot and he giggled softly.

 

“His wings were a bit crooked, I suspect that’s because they left him out in the woods and he damaged them with a tree or something”, she shook her head, “Another abandoned bastard… Illyrians and their precious bloodline…”, eyes rolling and disdain coating her voice, “Anyway, I healed them the best I could and… He will need to train, to train hard and maybe he probably won't be able to fly anytime soon, maybe not at all. Only time will tell. But perhaps by some miracle he'll be able to. After all, he did find you today” Shiera added, looking at the couple and giving Cassian the baby. “If you hadn’t found him or tried to heal him or bring him so fast… He’s alive thanks to you”.

 

“Anyway” she said reaching the door, “I’ll let you decide what to do next”. And after winking, she disappeared.

 

With the tiny illyrian in Cassian’s arms and Thalia caressing the baby’s cheek, the couple looked to each other. For how long Cassian had been hoping to help an illyrian bastard like Rhys’ mother had done to him? For how long Thalai and him had wanted to have a baby? For how long they had been hoping a miracle like that?

 

They lowered their heads, touching each other’s forehead as they looked to the baby in Cassian’s arms. “Our baby” they both whispered, tears rolling down their cheeks. “Our baby”.

 

* * *

 

They sat together on the bed, Cassian cradling the little male like he did when Thalia was born. A very long time ago, long before their lives turned upside down. The baby needed warmth and Thalia had a well of fire inside her, she would keep him safe and snug, his mother. And for training and  be able to use his wings again, he had the best warrior to teach him, his father.

 

They could see that the child had tufts of black hair curled at the end. “He’s beautiful” Thalia whispered, warming the cold cheek of her new son. “He is beautiful… Like you”. Because indeed, he had big, bright hazel eyes, just like Cassian. When cries began to make their way out of the little male’s mouth, their eyes shimmered. “He had strong lungs too” Cassian snorted and Thalia smiled again, pressing her lips against her husband’s cheek.

 

“We have a baby… We have a son…” Thalia murmured, still shocked but really happy. Everything had rushed into Cassian’s head and all he could do was nod. His mind in a daze and his vision slightly hazy. “We now have a baby” he whispered, neither of them unable to believe it yet.

 

He remembered the fear, the fear of not being good enough for Thalia, not being a good husband and now... not being able to take care of their son the way a baby needed to be taken care of. Cassian had never been good at expressing her affections, not good enough for a child who would need more love than… “You don’t have to worry about anything of that. You will be the perfect father, Cass” Thalia whispered and he knew she had entered in his mental shields, like the daemati she was. He shook his head, laughing. “I think that title belongs to yours, my love. But I hope I can be as good as Az or Alec”.

 

But then her smile faded. “I wish…”, she swallowed hard, “I wish someone had found you like we did with this little one”. In contrast he smiled again, “I was. Your grandmother found me… Well, actually it was your father” he laughed. “I will never forget it. Never. How your father, in the dead of night, woke me up in my piss-poor tent and told me to keep my mouth shut and come with him. His mother was livid. But I’ll never forget the look on her beautiful face when she saw me and said, ‘There is a bathtub with hot running water. Get in it or you can go back into the cold.’ When I got out, she had clean nightclothes and ordered me into bed. I’d spent my life sleeping on the ground, and when I balked, she said she understood because she had felt the same once, and that it would feel as if I was being swallowed up, but the bed was mine for as long as I wanted it”.

 

Thalia’s heart broke when he heard the story again.

 

“If it wasn’t for your father and his mother…”, Cassian shook his head, “I won’t ever be able to repay what they did for me but… I’ll try to raise this baby as good as your grandmother did with us and how your brother did”. Cassian gave her a smile and added, “And talking about your brother… Have you realized that your grandmother, your brother and you… all of you adopted an illyrian bastard. It must run in the family”. Thalia nudged him with her elbow, “You also have adopted an illyrian. You are part of this family, much before my own mother was even born” she laughed.

 

“And talking about my father…” Thalia began, “Have you realized that this baby will be his nephew and his grandson?”. Cassian bursted in a laugh as Thalia herself giggled too, unable to stop smiling.

 

* * *

 

When they were both laid on their huge bed, Cassian held out his arms and parted the blankets wrapping the child. Before they even saw him, he knew that baby had to be strong. To survive in these conditions as an unprotected child, even for a while, was asking for a death sentence. It was true what Shiera said, they had arrived just in time. Some people could say that the Cauldron had blessed this little male but it wasn’t true at all. The Cauldron had blessed them with this little and winged gift.

 

Cassian glanced at the wings, tightly woven to the little male’s body. Rage fitted itself in the pit of his stomach. His small wings were not in the alignment stable enough for flight, but he could grow out of it. Hopefully, and if not well, there were other ways of being an illyrian. He remembered when his wings were shredded and a hollow sort of feeling permeated his body. But what killed him was that this little baby might never feel the shifts of wind underneath him, may never taste the freedom that comes from kissing the sky.

 

Thalia looked at him, probably could sense the shift of moods. Cassian shook his head and kissed the baby’s forehead. “He is and illyrian and I will train him as better as I can but I won't care if he can't fly, if he never can. His worth is not designated by how strong his wings are. He is our son”. The conviction in his voice was one she knew well. “And he will be proud of having you as his father”. Thalia always knew how to calm him, what to say and when to say it. It was one of the things he loved most about her.

 

“But if we're going to keep him, he should probably have a name” Thalia added, “A good and fighting illyrian name. Choose one, my love”.

 

Cassian stared at the sleepy illyrian baby and whispered, “Daemon. His name is Daemon”.

 


	2. Wings

It had been a rough three years for Cassian and Thalia. They wouldn't regret it, though. Not when they watched Daemon’s eyes droop during a bedtime story, trying, with all the power he held in his tiny body, not to fall asleep. Not when Daemon would run up to her and give them the warmest hugs and the biggest smiles, no matter how long they had been gone, visiting the illyrian camps. Not when his body felt whole and her heart felt full. No, not even on the most difficult days could they regret taking Daemon in and creating a home together.

 

“Mommy, look, this one's a pumpkin” Daemon said with giddiness in her voice. He held up a cookie cutter that was indeed shaped like a pumpkin. They had went to the outdoor market in Velaris and had bought a whole assortment of those when the air had started to turn cooler. Daemon had spotted them. One look at the little male’s face and his mother knew there was no getting away from it.

 

Anyway, they knew full well that they would use them to the best of their abilities and they had. Every Sunday since, after their bodies stretched and their eyes flinched at the sun, they'd crawl into the kitchen and get out bowl after bowl after bowl. They'd spend hours smelling the spices permeating the room and feeling the warmth that came with having the oven on all day.

 

It was the only day Cassian and Thalia had an entire day to spend with Nina. They would made sure their baby didn't lack for anything. They made sure Daemon never felt unloved or forgotten. But that day, Cassian hadn’t returned yet from the camps.

 

Their son looked down at the shape he stamped into the dough and his full lips titled upwards.

 

It was his smile, most of all, that always made the particularly hard days worth it. Because Daemon’s smile could light up the world, and maybe that was a proud parent’s opinion, but their upturned lips had yet to stop melting every heart she came across. Looking at him, their eyes always softened. His hair had grown longer of course, as wild as his father’s, his eyes still as bright as ever.

 

They had heard the tune before they saw him. Heard the whistling of a sweet song that matched the weather outside, cool and soft. Daemon had practically knocked over his stool in a haste to get to the door, leaving the pumpkin to wait patiently until he came back. All Thalia could do was smile in her son’s direction, and her husband’s.

 

* * *

 

Cassian whistled the tune he learned a lifetime ago. It was a content sort of song, one that resonated how he felt every time he thought of his wife and son. He looked towards the large window. He could see his little son prompt up on a stool he had specifically bought with wings in mind. His heart fluttered when his eyes turned to the female next to him.

 

She had her hair up, tied with a ribbon, and an apron along her slim waist. He caught the tilt of her lips before he heard the door slam and saw the baby running towards him at full speed. But of course, he wasn't a baby, not anymore. He was a young male, becoming as handsome as his father every day, like Thalia always said and every time she said that, he couldn't help the pride that filled his whole body.

 

“Daddy!” his son yelled with giggles in his voice. Cassian caught him as he lunged towards him. He was still so small, even after all these years. He hugged her all the way to the door, before setting him down. Standing him next to the pumpkins he had helped them carve just a few weeks ago, he laughed as he took him in.

 

“Guess what, guess what, guess what?”.

 

He smiled as he witnessed his son’s enthusiasm.

 

“What my prince?”.

 

Daemon looked to his mother and she nodded. His grin grew wider at the endearment. “Mommy says my wings grew two inches since the last time you saw me. SHe even measured them! I hope they'll be as big as yours, daddy” he said as she turned around to show him her growing wings. Cassian's laughter could be heard from miles away, pride filling his heart. “Wow. Look at that, my prince. Soon you'll be a faster flyer than me and mom. You'll leave all the illyrians in the dust”.

 

His gaze swept up, from Daemon and his ever present smile, when he finally met his wife’s violet gaze and she gave him a wicked grin. He'd never get tired of that face. “If you two are done, my loves, the cookies aren't going to bake themselves”. And with that, grabbing Cassian's hand, Daemon raced into the kitchen, with the excitement only a child could muster. He pulled his father all the way to the table and showed him the cookie cutter he had been using. Dough was rolled out and an array of icing sat in bowls on the table. The room was the perfect temperature for the fall breeze, and the smell of cinnamon and vanilla coated the air.

 

Cassian smiled at Daemon, his little prince. He went on and on about how him and his mom had rolled out the dough in the early morning and how he had mixed different colors into the frosting so they could match the shapes he had laid out. There was nothing more wonderful than hearing him talk about things with such wonder. Thalia was convinced there were few things better than a child's imagination.

 

His father commented, encouraging her to tell him more. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Thalia at the counter, smiling. Her eyes big and bright. They both helped Dastan cut out figures in the dough. Pumpkins, stars, and leaves. They each grabbed a few and spread them on the pan. Daemon insisted he carry the tray to the oven. Thalia had opened it, while Cassian helped his son so he wouldn't burn himself.

 

They worked in a unit, like a tiny army. He smiled at the thought. When he was around them, he could never stop smiling. Joy filled him to the brink of overflowing. This was what he wanted, this, to crowd in the kitchen with laughter soaking the walls as much as the sweet smells. He thanked every war and battle he'd ever been in for leading him to this moment.

 

It was perfect, they were perfect. He thought that maybe this was what paradise felt like.

 

When the cookies were done, he was the one who took them out of the oven. Thalia chiding Daemon to get away from the hot pan and Daemon jumping up and down hardly containing his zeal. Cassian was the one who promised Daemon that he'd help him decorate every last one of them as soon as they were cool enough for the icing not to melt. And when they were indeed cool enough, him, Thalia, and Daemon all grabbed a cookie and iced them in an array of reds and oranges and whatever other color happened to be on that table.

 

“Taking the first bite is reserved for the prince” he had said to Daemon. And when he did, complete joy washed over his face. Smiling wide he said, “It's good!”. Thalia had just laughed at the pure exaltation on her little son’s face. “Well, what do you expect when we all make them together”. He agreed. Love is the secret ingredient. He thought as he smiled inwardly.

 

Daemon made his father promise him a bed time story, and Cassian would be damned if he didn't deliver every commitment he made to this sweet angel before him. He had told her stories of his adventures, before Thalia, before everything. The people he met and the adventures he had with Rhys and Azriel. Leaving out the somber parts as much as the gory parts, partially for her mom's sake and part for his own. And they knew Daemon loved to hear the adventures of his father and his mother’s father, his own grandfather.

 

“It’s true that the grandpa is the most powerful High Lord in history?”. They nodded, smiling. “And your grandma is the most powerful female ever” Thalia said and Cassian added, “And the first High Lady in history”. Daemon’s eyes grew heavier after every word his parents uttered, and when his eyes glued themselves shut, they made sure he was completely snug in his blankets, before they turned off the lights and they both exited his son’s room.

 


	3. Fly

 “What does it feel like to fly? To really be able to fly” one day Daemon had asked, the swing stopping its movement in response to his question. His face unusually serious for a male of his spirit and enthusiasm.

 

Daemon had been in his father’s arms while they flew together to one of the gardens. Now he was asking Cassian while Thalia prepared their picnic.

 

“Well” he said sighing, his wings widening in answer. “Your stomach lurches and your body panics, but somehow you feel relieved. I guess you're so high up, you can't fear the ground”.

 

Daemon titled his head towards the sky, closing his eyes, and breathing in the pure air all around them. It took him a while to ask the question he was, both, dreading and waiting for. “Do you think I could fly someday?” he said quietly, not looking directly at his parents.

 

Daemon's wings had healed and become stronger while training with his father but they weren’t as strong like they hoped they would. One still protruding at an angle sharper than the other. But this was their Daemon, nothing in the world could stop this little warrior. They were convinced the world was made just for him. And maybe that was a proud parent's opinion, but who could blame them when they saw those bright eyes and big smile.

 

Sensing the turn of Cassian’s body, Daemon looked up at him and only sheer conviction could be seen shining in his eyes. “I know you'll fly someday, my prince” Thalia whispered, kissing his dark hair.

 

“I can't help but thinking you're giving her false hope” Cassian said when Daemon when to take flowers of the grass. A bald statement coated with indifference. From a warrior to a warrior, a parent to a parent. “Someone has to hope. He's a little kid, he doesn't need to know the logistics of flying”. Thalia sighed, shaking her head. “He just needs to know he can, that it's possible”. Cassian glanced at her, something like pity flashing in his eyes. “Thals, there's a chance he won't be able to fly. That's the truth. Live with it, because I don’t want him to believe all his life he will fly and then discover that he won’t”.

 

Closing his eyes, Cassian continued. One word harder than the next. “I don't want her to look at us, at all his winged family and imagine what it would feel like to touch the sky, and I don't want to look at him and imagine what it would be like to teach him”. He laid his hands on top of her own. "If he can't fly, he can't. I love him just as he is. He is our son, our perfect son. No matter if his wings work or they don’t”.

 

This was their baby, this was their baby and they promised he'd be loved forever.

 

Wings or no wings.

 

“I know my love, but if I learnt something from my father is that dreams come true if you really wish them to become true. But we can’t lose faith”. Cassian looked at her sadly. “What your parents achieved… They achieved the most impossible things in life but I… I dreamed all my life to have a family, to be loved and here I am, I have two wonderful brothers, two wonderful sisters-in-law, three wonderful nieces and two nephews. I have the most… the most amazing wife that my heart could have ever desired and now we have a son”.

 

“We have and if he discovers he won’t be able to fly, we will support him. But he has to believe”.

 

Cassian was about to reply but seeing the hope shining in Thalia’s glittering eyes… He approached and claimed her lips in a short but sweet kiss. When they were face to face, their foreheads joined, Cassian nodded and Thalia smiled, proudly.

 

“I took her to heal the other day” Thalia declared into his mind, “My mother said Daemon could get surgery on his wings, that maybe there was a small chance he'd be able to fly. She told me it wasn't guaranteed, that a million things could go wrong, some that might make everything worse. But Daemon insisted, said that he needed his wings fixed now”.

 

Cassian couldn't blame him; he couldn't live without his wings.

 

Thalia’s solemn eyes told him that wasn't the worst of it. “The other day, I couldn't find him anywhere and I looked for hours. I even asked my parents and Alec and Aelin to help. I was out of my mind, but I finally found him. He was on the roof; I don't even know how he got there”. Thalia shook her head. “But he looked at me and he had tears in her eyes, and he said, 'Mommy, maybe if I just practice I'll be able to fly.' I swear Cass, I felt like I was about to die. Dad caught her when he couldn't”.

 

Cassian's heart clenched. He had been training the illyrians, he hadn't been there all week. He should have been there, should have helped Daemon, should have helped Thalia care of him. Where was he when they needed him?

 

“He barely eats. I'll check on him at night and I see her toss and turn over and over again”.

 

Tears formed in Thalia’s eyes, her fists clenched in her lap. He took them in his own, for both their sakes. She turned to face him. “He hasn't smiled in a week”. Her voice low. And that was the sentence that broke him, and broke him enough that the restraint to keep from her ceased to exist. He buried her in his arms, and she let him. He couldn't let her go, and if anyone had tried in that moment, they would have found that he didn't have the strength to fight them. He didn't feel like he had any strength at all.

 

He was about to reply but then Daemon came and sat on his lap, giving his parents the flowers he had collected. “They are beautiful, my love” Thalia whispered and her son’s smile grew in his lips.

 


	4. Another kid

“Daddy” his son suddenly let out. “What happens, my love?”. Daemon seemed nervous and asked, “Will you and mom still love me if you end up having more kids?”. Their heads whipped towards the little illyrian, astonishment clearly written on their faces. “Why would you ask a question like that? Of course, we would love you”. Daemon looked down at his shoes, a habit, they noticed, that he did every time he asked a question he never ended up liking to hear. “Even if they're fully yours?”.

 

They looked to each other and even the birds stopped singing at that one. Their hearts suddenly felt a thousand times heavier than it had been before. They had told him some months ago the truth about how they found him, like Alec and Magnus had done with Killian when he was about Daemon’s age. They had feared about how he could react but like Killian decades ago, Daemon had thanked them for saving, adopting, raising and loving him. And now they didn’t understand why he was worried about that.

 

Before they could even respond, Daemon began again. “Will you still love me if you have kids and they're stronger and faster than me?”. He paused and his parents never again wanted to hear the next words that came out of his mouth.

 

“If they can fly?”.

 

He looked up at them then and they could see the unshed tears making a home in his precious, hazel eyes and their hearts broke in little pieces. Cassian quickly grabbed him, set him in his lap, and gently rocked him while Thalia approached and hugged them both, kissing her son’s hair. When his crying had turned into little whimpers, and with all the gentleness he could find in his large body, he grabbed his face in his palms. Daemon placed his hands on his wrists, and the gesture made it all the more difficult. His son’s hands were so much smaller than his.

 

He wiped a tear that fell with his thumb, praying that it was the last tear to come out of his beautiful eyes. “I'm going to tell you something Daemon, that I hope you'll never forget. Never. Now I've kept all my promises to you, you think you can keep this one for me?”. Nodding his head, Cassian went on. “The funniest and most beautiful things about family is that the people who mean the most aren't necessarily the people you are born with”.

 

Cassian swallowed, feeling all too familiar at the words forming on his tongue. “It's the people you choose to love and the people who choose to love you. Family is a choice, a choice we make every day. To laugh together, to cry together, to swing together”. He pushed on the swing a little for emphasis. “And the best thing about that family you create is that no one holds more value than another. You see, family is like a tiny army, a unit created to build each other up. An army needs all its people, it's only strong when their altogether”.

 

He smiled at Daemon. Maybe he needed this talk, just as much as he did. “That's how family works. No one is more precious than another, because you all chose to love each other, chose to take care of each other, chose to be strong together. So believe me when I say this, Daemon”. He straightened at the sound of his name he rarely used to call him.

 

Thalia caressed his cheek. “No matter how many children daddy and I may have, no matter if you were born to us or not, you are our son. And that will not change, no matter what seasons pass or how hard the wind blows. We promise you”. Thalia tapped his nose, starting to see the light shine once more and a smile once again take residence on that perfect face.

 

"Finally" Cassian declared, “And regarding your strength, I happen to believe that you are the strongest person I know, wings or no wings. You are the Daemon that will shake this world and you are the Daemon that I happen to love beyond any comprehension, that sometimes it scares even me. You got all that, my warrior?”.

 

Behind his son’s watery eyes was joy. He smiled, the big smile that Thalia missed so much that her soul sang at the relief. He jumped into their arms, a place Daemon knew he belonged, and buried her face into his parents’ chests.

 

“You are the best parents in the whole world. I love you”.

 

Cassian and Thalia smiled. Joy coursing through their body in waves.

 

“And we love you too, baby. Always”.

 

Cassia thanked the Cauldron every day that he had Thalia. Couldn't even contemplate doing this without her. The person who ignited a flame in him he long thought had gone out, and then tended to the flames until they could warm a whole household. His wife, his wonderful wife and their son, who was perfect just the way he was.

 

* * *

 

When the day turned into night, Daemon began to fell asleep in his arms so Cassian tucked him into bed.

 

“Mom, dad” he called them before the left, “I’m so glad you found me. I couldn't imagine my life if you hadn’t”.

 

Cassian’s eyes felt watery when he heard those words, the same he had said to Thalia when they had just adopt Daemon. How he couldn't imagine his life if Rhysand hadn’t came to his tent so long ago, if his mother hadn’t made him feel loved for the first time since he lost his own mother. How he couldn't imagine his life if Thalia hadn’t been born, if she hadn’t loved him, because Thalia was his biggest treasure in his whole life. And now he couldn't imagine his life if they hadn’t found that little illyrian in he middle of the snow, abandoned for being a bastard, abandoned by his own parents, his own people.

 

He had been born also as a bastard, left in the mud in order to fight so he could survive. Always discriminated and misunderstood. Always having to carry the weight that being a bastard was. “And here you are now, my love” Thalia whispered into his mind, “You have a large family that loves you, two wonderful brothers, nieces and nephews that adore you, a beautiful wife and a son, that will be raised in this palace, as a warrior like his father”.

 

And with those all words in his head, his tears finally fell and rolled down his cheeks. But he wasn’t ashamed of being crying, he was grateful of it. Grateful for everything he had achieved and everything he had, his family.

 

Daemon noticed how his father had began to weep quietly and said, “I'm sorry daddy, did I say something sad?”. Wiping his eyes with the back of his hands, Cassiam stared at those eyes and the sheer innocence contained within them. "No, sweet pea. I'm just happy” he whispered.

 

Cassian smiled and so did Daemon in response. They all embrace in a huge hug and Thalia kissed their son’s forehead before leaving.

 

Thalia turned her head towards the bed and before shutting the door, she spoke, “You know, Daemon, people have always said that it was a miracle that we found you. But I want you to know, you were the miracle. We have had the greatest and most happiest days, because of you”.


	5. Pregnant

Cassian breathed a sigh of relief as he walked out of the small market on the outskirts of Velaris. The sun was already setting and he’d been gone far longer than he expected to be, looking for one damned store that sold cucumbers. They weren’t in season, and they were harder to find than he thought. He’d finally found one about ten minutes ago, and he held the paper bag in his hand with great care, for if he dropped this, he wasn’t going back.

  
  
Cucumber sandwiches. Cassian had no idea why, but Thalia had been craving cucumber damned sandwiches for days now. Was that even a real sandwich? Cassian was entirely certain she had made it up. When he told her as much, she’d nearly set flames under his ass trying to defend it, but to him it just didn’t seem like it fell under the category of a sandwich. Maybe it was a fae thing. But when she begged him to make her one this morning, he couldn’t refuse her pleading eyes.

  
  
She was six months along now, and the baby would be here any day, so Cassian was practically waiting on her hand and foot. Not that he minded, he essentially enforced it, pleading with her to rest, to stay in bed, to let him wait on her like a queen. At first she was annoyed at her dwindling independence, but she quickly assumed her throne on the living room couch in their townhouse, and Daemon, always perched at her right side.

 

At first, their son had been euphoric about having a little brother or a little sister to play with along with his cousin Sapphira (the baby that Varian and Amren had adopted) but when months passed by, he became anxious. He came every night to their bed and he stayed in his father’s arms, his head and hand against his mother’s heavily pregnant belly. He really loved feeling the soft kicks that could be noticed inside as his father read to him.

 

* * *

 

 Cassian had left her in that exact spot before noon today, when Shiera and Aelin arrived to keep Thalia company. He’d reached out to her along the bond a few times over the course of the afternoon, to check in, to update on his progress, to simply feel her presence, and she’d sent back exasperated and sarcastic remarks in response. He expected no less of a reaction to his coddling, but he’d hardly left her for this long the entire pregnancy.

 

He sent a pulse of victory down the mating bond to let her know he had completed his quest almost at the exact moment she pushed against his mental shields. “Cass?” she said in a distant voice, and edge to it that made Cassian pause. “Are you almost home?”. He was not a daemati like his wife, but he sent a wave of reassurance against her own shields in response. He felt her tense on the other side, and he started walking faster, eventually spreading his wings and flying the short distance back to the townhouse.

 

By the time he landed on the front step, the tension in the bond was nearly restricting his breathing, and he barged through the door, throwing the bag of cucumbers on a side table. Daemon bounded up to him and began to hug his leg, so Cassian wrapped his son in his arms, dropping a kiss against his raven hair and rounded the corner into the kitchen, where he sensed his wife would be.

 

And indeed, Thalia was sat at the dining room table, hunched over in pain, with Shiera and Aelin sat by her sides and Rhys behind her, rubbing his daughter’s back. They all looked up as he arrived, and the relief on Thalia’s face almost made him fall over. Yet the tension was still there.

 

“What’s wrong?” Cassian blurted, looking to his brother. “She wouldn’t move without you. She went into labor about five minutes ago. I’ve called ahead to the healer and she’ll be here soon, but in the meantime, can you please convince your wife to get into bed?”.

 

Daemon squirmed in his arms until Cassian placed him on the floor. Then he spun towards Aelin. His aunt lifted him in her arms but was careful when it came to the little wings on his back. “What happens, mommy?”. Thalia couldn’t do much but hold her mother’s hand in pain. Rhys then took his grandson and lifted him. “What happens is that your mommy is ready to have your sibling”.

 

Cassian shot his gaze down to Thalia , who finally managed to stand all the way up as she reached for him. “I’m seriously going to set you on fire for this” she said through gritted teeth, albeit half-heartedly, as Cassian gently picked her up. “Save the fire for later” he said, smiling down at her and carrying her to the stairs. “Okay, but I’m prepared to squeeze your hand until it breaks”. “Deal”.

 

Aelin stayed downstairs to greet the healer as Cassian carefully laid Thalia down in their bed. She groaned as a wave of pain hit her and Cassian could feel the bond tighten with every contraction. It was incredibly distressing, but he knew she was in much more pain, so he didn’t dare voice his discomfort.

 

“What do you need, sweetheart?” Cassian asked her gently, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear and adjusting her pillow behind her. “Stop fussing” she snapped, “and just hold my damn hand. It feels better when you’re touching me”. Cassian swallowed the sarcastic sexual remark he wanted to say, knowing she wouldn’t appreciate it right now, and laced his fingers with hers. Her face immediately softened, though he felt her pain more prominently. “Are you sure this is better?”. “Yes. Please don’t let go” she said quickly, adjusting against the pillow and relaxing into his touch. Cassian smiled and squeezed her hand back. “I’d take all your pain if I could, sweetheart”. She smiled a bit too and he leaned over to kiss her forehead gently.

 

A moment later, Shiera opened the door downstairs and the healer came in, quickly making her way up the stairs to their bedroom. Shiera sat down on the other side of Thalia’s bed, placing a hand on her forehead, trying to keep the pain away as Rhys appeared, holding Daemon in his lap, as the healer performed a few simple tests to make sure the labor was proceeding naturally.

 

“Everything looks okay for now” the healer chirped, “Once we’re a little farther along, I’ll be able to sense the baby a little better and I’ll give you an idea of how long this might take”.

 

“Thank you” Rhys said. “Thalia, do you want me to take Daemon…?”. Thalia started nodding her head violently as another contraction hit her, and squeezed Cassian’s hand. “Yes, please. Thank you, dad” she wept. Rhys came closer to press his lips against his daughter’s forehead and let Daemon hug his mother. Before leaving, he embraced his brother and said, “Now, you will be welcomed to the bone-crashing-while-giving-birth club”. Shiera let out a laugh and Cassian grinned before hugging him in return and kis his son’s forehead.


	6. Giving birth

The next couple of hours were a blur. Cassian was going mad with the sight of his wife in pain, embarrassed at how many times he unintentionally growled at the healer. He never let go of Thalia’s hand, not once, until he completely lost feeling in it and asked to switch hands.

 

“Mom… This hurts so much…”. Shiera held her hand harder. “I know my love, I know”. Her daughter met her husband's hazel gaze and managed to give him a shy smile. “Oh, Cass… With Daemon there wasn't pain at all. Maybe…”, she frowned but tried to relax herself again, “Maybe we should have adopted this one too”. Cassian chuckled and kissed her hand as her smile grew a bit more.

 

But Thalia’s attitude went downhill very quickly. His wife did well enough with pain, but this was a whole new kind of pain for her. She threw every curse imaginable at Cassian, cursing him for doing this to her, cursing him for not being a woman, cursing him for having the audacity to tell her she would make it through this. The insults, Cassian could tell, made the healer incredibly uncomfortable, but he smiled through them all. This was his fiery Thalia and he expected no less, so he just pushed her hair out of her face and rubbed her arm and told her that he loved her.

 

“Cass” Thalia said after a particularly painful contraction. “Can you put your hand here for a second?”. She indicated a spot on her lower abdomen, and he placed his free hand there. “Hmm...” was all she said, and then she winced. “What is it?” Cassian urged. “Is something bothering you?”. The healer looked up from the tonic she was concocting and walked over to the bed as Thalia spoke. “I keep getting this sharp, stabbing pain here. It seems unrelated to the contraction.” She covered Cassian’s hand with her own and moved it away so the healer could place her own hand there. The healer closed her eyes, using her magic to see inside of Thalia to indicate the source of the problem.

 

After many long seconds during which Cassian realized he had been holding his breath, the healer removed her hand and looked at both of them. Cassian tensed.

 

“It seems” she said in a gentle voice, “that the talon of the baby’s wing is puncturing you. It could be nothing, but I am going to monitor him very closely”. “He has wings?” Thalia said at the same time Cassian said, “He’s a male?”. The healer gave the High Lady a look that she knew what that meant. “It's a female. A baby illyrian female who might be able to summon fae ears or powers in the future”.

 

Cassian and Thalia looked at each other, and the love in her eyes almost knocked him over. He was certain his face looked the same. He lifted their joined hands to his mouth and kissed the back of hers. “Our little illyrian warrior is already fighting” the Princess of Velaris said with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. She was afraid, the General realized, and he squeezed her hand as he turned to the healer.

 

“Will this affect the birth at all?” Shiera asked tentatively, sensing the smallest bit of unease on the healer’s face. “It’s possible. The talon could cause Thalai significant internal bleeding. The birth process could injure the wing”. Cassian closed his eyes at the anxious and sympathetic look his brother’s mate threw at him. The healer continued, “Her magic should be sufficient to self-heal her, but we won’t be able to see the full extent of the damage until after his birth.”

 

Thalia winced again as the stabbing pain hit her and Cassian opened his eyes, searching her face for any sign of excess strain. “I’m going to tell Aelin to come. Just in case” Shiera announced and. Cassian nodded his agreement, knowing that his niece had exceptional healing powers. Better to be safe than sorry.

 

Another hour passed, and her pain became worse. Cassian wanted to slaughter the gods themselves for putting his wife in this state. His entire body ached with anxiety and it was incredibly hard to put on a front of strength to put Thalia at ease. He knew it was futile, though; she could, of course, feel every strong emotion he was throwing down the mating bond.

 

Aelin arrived and tried to get Cassian to eat something, saying he looked a little peaky, but she left the room quickly when he began to growl at her. The healer also called for two of her colleagues, and when they finally arrived, Thalia was in so much constant pain that Cassian almost wished everyone would just leave the damn bedroom so he could take care of her.

 

“The baby is about an hour or so from birth” one of the new healers said when Thalia could finally open her eyes for a moment. “So we’re going to set you up here” she said, adjusting the pillows to allow Nesta to sit up straight. Suddenly, Nesta let out a scream and yanked her hand away from Cassian. He immediately stood, unsure what to do with himself as Nesta curled up into a tight ball and rolled to the side. That’s when he saw the blood.

 

“She’s bleeding” Cassian snapped, grabbing the hand that Thalia was holding out for him once again. “Why is she bleeding?”. He turned to Shiera and she could see the pain in her mate’s brother’s face, he feared that Thalia would suffer the same as her mother did with Dastan. Shiera shook her head.

 

“The wing is causing greater distress than they expected” the other new healer explained evenly. “We will have to start the birthing process now”. “I’m going to have to ask you to move so I can…” one of the healers began but Nesta shouted suddenly, whipping her head to the healers, “NO”. Her face was covered in sweat, and she was paler than he’d ever seen her. “No. Don’t you dare tell him to move. I need him”.

 

Cassian knelt back down beside her and wiped a tear from her eye, and without looking at the healers, said, “I’m staying right here, my love… You can do this, sweetheart. You’ll be okay. She will be okay”. Thalia nodded as she sat up, the healers swarming her like flies and adjusting her sitting position, moving the blankets away, and clearing away the significant amount of blood on the bed with a snap of their fingers. Thalia just looked at Cassian, drawing strength from his eyes on hers. She already looked so, so tired and Cassian just wanted to tuck her into him and let her sleep, wrapped in his wings and his arms, until she was physically ready to do this.

 

“You can do this” he said again. “I love you”.

 

“I love you too”.

 

* * *

 

 

The next half-hour was a nightmare. The healers urged Thalia to push, and every time she tried, she would shriek with pain at the wing catching and ripping the flesh on the inside of her uterus. Her tears flowed freely, and Cassian kissed away as many as he could without getting in the way. Thalia actually managed to pop one of Cassian’s fingers out of the socket, but he hardly felt it, absent-mindedly switching hands as a healer bandaged him quickly. With every push, more blood flowed onto the bed, but the healers assured them that she would be okay, that the baby would be okay. The only worry was the wing.

 

“I see the head” a healer said after a while, and she smiled. “Already has hair”. “What color” Thalia panted, unable to open her eyes through this wave of pain. Cassian wiped her black hair out of her face as he waited for the answer. “Dark. He’s got his illyrian’s hair, for sure”.

 

Thalia smiled, actually smiled, and Cassian’s heart leapt with relief at the show of emotion on his wife’s face. “Stay with me, Cass” she whispered as she started to push again. He helped her through it, sending strength and determination in her opened mind, and moments later...

 

When the healer lifted up the baby, their baby, their little daughter, there were no words to describe how he felt. Their first thought was that she was perfect. She was so small, and as she opened his eyes and began to cry, Cassian almost cried himself when he saw that his daughter had Rhys, Aelin and Thalia’s violet eyes, but a shade lighter. And the wings...

 

They were tucked tightly to the baby’s body, but one was slightly bent and covered in blood, the talon significantly smaller and sharper than the other. The damage to the wing was significant, and his heart broke. He looked to Thalia for strength, still grasping her hand, only to find her passed out in the sheets. Aelin immediately went to work on her, magically stemming the flow of blood that soaked the bed beneath her.

 

Cassian’s mind went blank as the other the healers, nodding to him, carried the baby into the adjoining room they had set up for the post-birth check ups. He had no idea what to do with himself as he started to panic.

 

“I…” he started to say, standing up, when Shiera held a hand to stop him. “The wing looks bad” she said softly, “but it is fixable. Easily. Stay with her, Cassian. The other healers won’t let you in while they perform their first tests, anyway”. She smiled at him and embraced him. He kissed her cheek. “Thank you” he whispered with tears in his eyes. She held him harder and covered his face in kisses. “Just try to relax. Okay?”.

 

Cassian didn’t know how much time had passed, but Shiera and Aelin, their healing power shining at full force. Then Rhys came in, with Daemon in his arms. He wrapped his son in his arms as his brother sat next to him but he just looked at her, willing her to wake up.

 

A healer was at the door, a light smile on her face. “Would you like to meet your daughter?”. Cassian nodded nervously and looked to Rhys and Shiera. They nodded and kissed their daughter’s temples before standing up and following the healer. Rhys opened his arms in a silent offer and Cassian gave him Daemon again.

 

When the healer put his daughter in his arms, it was like the world falling into place. She slept peacefully, her bandaged wings wrapped to him carefully with the same blanket that had wrapped Thalia when she was a baby. Cassian cradled the baby in his arms and a tear slid down his face. She was perfect like her mother and her brother. She came into this world like a warrior, with an explosive fiery entrance, and he should have expected no less from the product of him and Thalia.

 

“Daddy” Daemon let out with bright eyes, “Is she…”. He looked at Rhys and Shiera, who were already smiling, their eyes lined in silver and he nodded, smiling too. “She’s your sister” Cassian whispered and showed the baby to him.

 

And he remembered when Thalia and Aelin had been born, how happy their parents had been so happy and how Cassian had held the female that would become his wife, the mother of his… his two children now. And how happy and proud Cassian and Thalia had been when they found Daemon, how small he had been.

 

And when he lifted his gaze from his children and found his High Lord and High Lady still smiling to him, he understood that they all had been remembering the same. Rhys caressed his granddaughter's cheek  and whispered looking back to him, “She is beautiful, brother. I’m so proud of you both”. Shiera kissed Cassian’s cheek and embraced him again, “Congratulations”.

 

* * *

 

“Cass…”.

 

Cassian’s head snapped to his wife and his heart fell right into place as he saw her eyes open. “Thank the Mother” he swore under his breath and he smiled, turning toward her as she sat up slightly. Daemon climbed to the bed and sat next to his mother. “Mommy… Do you want to meet my sister?” he asked proudly. Thalia smiled widely, caressed the young illyrian’s cheek and after kissing his forehead, she whispered “Of course I want, my love”.

 

Cassian gave her the baby wrapped in her old blanket. “Sweetheart, meet our daughter”.

 

Her face was filled with emotion as she looked down at him, adjusted her arms around him to cradle his dark head, and then she just stared. Daemon pushed hair behind her pointed ear as he also stared at his sister, and he only realized his mother was crying when one of his fingers accidentally brushed her cheek. He looked to her, concerned, and almost collapsed at the smile on her face and the tears in her eyes. He looked then to his father and Cassian smiled sweetly to him.

 

Both males watched as Thalia brought the child closer to her face and as she kissed her gently on the head. “Hey there, little warrior” she said, her voice as light as when they had held Daemon for the first time. “You’ll fit right in to this family my little female, won’t you?”.

 

She looked up at Cassian then, and he leaned in to kiss her, both of their tears wet on each other’s faces. Thalia tilted her head to the empty space beside her on the bed, and Cassian climbed in with her, putting an arm around her shoulders and the other one around Daemon’s waist in his lap. Their son lifting a hand a bit to caress carefully the baby’s cheek with his finger.

 

“She’s perfect, Cass” Thalia whispered, leaning into his shoulder as he kissed her head and rested his chin in her hair. “She looks just like you”. “Are you calling me perfect?” Cassian laughed and she snorted. “No, my love. Daemon is like me but this perfect princess… she’s exactly like you”.

 

“She’s so tiny…” the illyrian muttered, “I was so little too when you found me?”. His parents let out a laugh and smiled to him. “Yes, my love. You were as tiny and cute as your little sister”.

 

“Are you okay?” Cassian asked then, snaking his hand to settle over the one she had on the baby’s head. “I know I should be in a lot of pain but I literally cannot feel it right now” Thalia replied. “But I’m going to probably be really mad at you later. Be warned” she finished, throwing a devilish smile his way. “You won’t be when I finally make you that cucumber sandwich” he said against her hair. Thalia laughed lightly. “That’s not even a real sandwich. I just needed a moment to myself with all your coddling”.

 

Cassian wrapped his arms around his son, around her, around the baby, around his own little family. A family he never imagined having, especially not with a wife whose own soul matched his own.

 

“What are you going to name her?” hi son mumbled. “Something illyrian?” Thalia asked but Cassian shook his head. “I chose Daemon’s name, this is your turn, my love”. She doubted for a moment, trying to decide how to name their daughter. And after stare for a long time to the baby’s dark hair, the tiny black wings flapping in her back, the violet and black blanket wrapping her small body and thinking about her title of Princess of the Night Court…

 

“I know just the name” she declared.

 

“Nyx”.

 

“Nyx” Cassian mulled over the name, tasting it. “It’s perfect”. “You’re all perfect, my loves” he said kissing Daemon’s hair, Nyx’ forehead and Thalia’s lips before she rested her head on his shoulder. Cassian rested his head on Thalia’s and looked down at Daemon admiring his new sister and Nyx sleeping in her mother’s arms. And Cassian knew in that moment, holding his wife and their children, that no matter how hard this would be, he wouldn’t trade this family for all the world. With Thalia, and for Daemon and Nyx, he would conquer it all.

 


End file.
